Making litmus paper with A4 Paper at home

How to make Litmus paper at home

How to make litmus paper at home by yourself !

Welcome! In this guide, we will be teaching you how to make your very own litmus paper and do other experiments. It’s fun and easy to make, and it can be made using household ingredients. Students and Children would love to make this, and it really looks magical.

What Is Litmus Paper?

Litmus paper is an indicator used to test whether a substance is acidic or basic. You simply dip the paper in your substance, and it will change color depending on whether it is acidic or basic. It will go red in an acid and blue in a base. It is a lot of fun to make and is very easy. The kids would love to get stuck in with this project!

Okay, let’s watch the video to learn how to make Litmus paper at home.

How Does It Work?

The red cabbage you used can be used as pH indicator. It is red or pink in acids (pH < 7), purple in neutral solutions and ranges from blue to green to yellow in alkaline solutions (pH > 7).

The pH Scale

Knowing whether a substance is acidic or basic is only the first step. Scientists in the laboratory need to know how strong/weak an acid or base really is. Sodium Hydroxide is a very strong base and can burn your skin if you come in contact with it. Therefore, there is a scale called the pH scale which ranges from 1-14.

Very strong Acids are around 1-2 on the pH Scale.

Weaker acids are 3-6 on the pH scale.

Neutral (neither acidic or basic) are 7

Weak bases are 8-9 on the pH scale

Very strong bases are 10-12 on the pH scale

To determine how strong/weak an acid or base is and where it is on the pH scale, scientists use universal indicator paper which can be seen on the top right. You dip the paper into the substance of your choice and it will change color. You can then determine how strong an acid or base is by judging the colour of the paper to the colors on the pH scale. See picture at top.